People

Johnnie

Johnnie Shannon (Campaign Manager)

With a background in geology and remote sensing, Johnnie probably first discovered the skeptical movement through Ben Goldacre’s column in The Guardian, became a minor activist through the Singh / BCA case and interest blossomed over time through conversation at variousvenues.

Simon Singh (Chairman)

Simon is a science writer based in London. His first book was “Fermat’s Last Theorem” and his most recently he co-authored “Trick or Treatment (Alternative Medicine on Trial)” with Professor Edzard Ernst. You can visit his website at www.simonsingh.net.

With a background in marketing and communications, his skeptical activism has included testing psychic claims, trialling sports performance wristbands, interviewing proponents of alternative beliefs and exposing the influences of PR in journalism.

Laura

Laura Thomason (Project Leader)

Laura has worked with campaigners, journalists and regulators to expose and to tackle bad science and misleading health claims. Under her pen name Josephine Jones she has blogged extensively about fields such as Live Blood Analysis, cancer cures, allergy testing and much more.

Laura has a background in biology and has worked as an industrial chemist.

Advisory Panel

Robert Dougans practices in Dispute Resolution at Bryan Cave LLP. He is well known among scientists for his defamation work, including acting on behalf of the writer Simon Singh in the case brought against him by the British Chiropractic Association. He also attracted attention for his successful defence of the journalist David Osler in what is widely reported as a case likely to grant more freedom to online publishers in respect of content in their web archives. Mr. Dougans received the award for Assistant Solicitor of the Year (2010) in recognition of his work in this area.

Caroline Watt is a founding member of the University of Edinburgh’s Koestler Parapsychology Unit and has been researching and teaching on parapsychology and paranormal beliefs and experiences for over 25 years. She runs an online parapsychology course, is past-president of the Parapsychological Association, and is co-author of the textbook An Introduction to Parapsychology, now in its 5th edition.

Professor Richard Wiseman is the Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, and carries out research into luck, deception and the paranormal. He has written several best selling psychology books, including The Luck Factor and 59 Seconds, and been involved with the skeptical movement for over 20 years.

Professor Chris French is the Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of both the British Psychological Society and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and also a member of the Scientific and Professional Advisory Board of the British False Memory Society. He writes for the Guardian and The Skeptic magazine. His most recent book, co-authored with Anna Stone, is Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience.